Social Constructionism and Theology

In his introduction to 13 contributed chapters, Hermans (identity of Catholic schools and religious education, Catholic U. of Nijmegan, Netherlands) explains that there is a movement within practical theology away from defining it as applied theology; and that the social science constructionist model of practical theology is characterized by practice-theory-practice, as vs. the application model of theory-practice. International contributors (all male) discuss the implications of the former model for the psychological study of religion; and postmodern theology's contributions to moral identity, religious education, and changing the Church. The volume concludes with reflections on the ontological, epistemological, and ethical aspects of practical theology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Chris Hermans, Aad de Jong, Jan van der Lans and Gerrit Immink are senior members of the Netherlands School of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (Noster). Hermans, De Jong and Van der Lans work at the University of Nijmegen and Immink at the University of Utrecht.